1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to firefighting products and methods and more particularly to fire and smoke prevention compositions and the processes of making them.
2. Description of the Related Art
In United States, a home fire occurs every 85 seconds. On average, and depending on the area and department, the fire department takes about 3-5 minutes to respond to a fire. In 2012, a total of 2,405 lives were lost in and a total of 13,175 injuries reported from residential fires. An estimated 50%-80% of fire deaths are from smoke inhalation. Too much smoke inhalation puts too much carbon monoxide into the lungs and could possibly cause brain damage because the carbon monoxide prohibits red blood cells from transferring oxygen into your body and carbon dioxide out of your body. On average, it would take 15 minutes of straight smoke, with no oxygen, to kill someone and 5-10 minutes to cause permanent brain damage. In addition, some people experience long term lung problems following smoke inhalation.
Oftentimes, the deaths and injuries occur because people are trapped in a bedroom or other rooms of the house, and flames and/or smoke are/is penetrating into the room through door gaps (i.e., the gaps between the door and the floor of the room, hereinafter “door gap” or “floor gap,” and between the door and its frame, also known as door jambs, hereinafter “door gap” or “door jamb gap”), exposing the trapped people to smoke and/or flames before firefighters can save them.
Thus, there is a need for a product that can be easily and safely (e.g., non-toxic) applied by people in the door gaps, and that is effective in preventing smoke and/or flames from entering the room, for a sufficient amount of time, such that trapped people can be saved before they incur injuries or death.
Fire shelters can be a means of protection for firefighters when trapped by fires. The best fire shelters need a combination of three elements to address the three types of heat: radiant, convective, and conductive heat. The first element can be a reflective barrier, which can repel exposed flame, but cannot stop convection. The second element should address this, and it is known in the prior art to use an air pocket polyacrylate insulation barrier in a fire shelter. However, even with effective radiant and convective heat barriers, conductive heat is still a problem due to the direct contact between the reflective and insulation barriers, and due to this fire shelters can fail. Therefore, there is a need for a product that can address all three types of heat in a fire shelter.
FIGS. 1a-c b show prior art, the New Generation Fire Shelter 101 used by the U.S. Forestry (U.S.F.), with an aluminum foil outer shell with a silica weave bound by an adhesive glue. Firefighters may carry a fire shelter 101 on their backs in a pack 102 as a last line of defense. The weak point is the adhesive having a low melting point relative to the other components, of 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The adhesive can melt and cause the foil to “bubble” away from the silica weave underneath, as shown by a fire shelter after used in a fire 101-a, removing the reflective ability of the fire shelter. The aluminum foil used in the U.S. Forestry fire shelter also failed in some cases due to the 1400 degrees Fahrenheit melting point of the foil. Although most forest fires have a temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which wood is combustible, once wind is introduced, a furnace effect can occur and the temperature is greatly increased. Peak heat can surpass 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. Due to the glue melting at 500 degrees and the duration of their entrapment, some firefighters have died in wildland fires. Even in the cases where the fire shelters are successful, some firefighters still received second- and third-degree burns from touching the fire shelter wall, due to the convection heat that passes through the framework and stitching and into the wall creating radiant heat inside of the shelter. Therefore, there is a need for a fire shelter that can withstand higher temperatures and create a safer environment on the inside.
Absorbing polymers may be considered for use in insulating barriers to protect from fire. Sodium polyacrylate (C3H3NaO2) is an example of a super-absorbing polymer. It is a cross-linked (network) polymer that contains sodium atoms, and it absorbs water through osmosis. As water is being absorbed by the polymer, sodium molecules are extracted and collected around the hydrated polymer cell. Because of salt's strong ionic bonds, they are ideal at forming an insulation barrier around the hydrated polymer cells, keeping them from melting or evaporating at a heat that would normally do so.